29_Gardenings

In late October 2017, my husband decided to test his inner green thumb; so we started to plant various plants to make our yards prettier (see also Farther Beautification). One of the plants we planted was Tulips in late November. In late February these Tulips started to pop out and bloomed. Having seen the pretty results, we got more motivated to fill in the flower bed even though we got different result from the Tea Olive that we planted in October. It suffered from the cold snap and looked dying.



Some of the Tulips started to bloom.

 

We also planned to fill in our garden bed backyard with fruits, veggies, and herbs. To do all of these, we prepped the soil by adding top soil that we bought from a local company. However, after we filled the barren spots and layered the existing soils, we still had a lot of leftovers. We advertised the leftovers for free, and in 2 days they all gone.

Leftovers of the top soil.

Outdoor

First, we looked for perennials and evergreens to fill the back and middle part of the flower bed. Since our first gardening experience, we religiously visited local nursery called Dunn Nursery. The service there is suitable for our needs. The people there always informed us about the best plants to pick and how to take care of them. Furthermore, they always gave us discounts whenever we bought in bulk. So, for filling up the flower bed, we went there again in mid-March.

When we told them about our Tea Olive, they said that their Tea Olives suffered the same problem. So I guessed, we weren’t bad at all in taking care of the plants.

After having discussion based on what we read online and their expertise, we ended up with a Gold Mop False Cypress, Drift Roses, and Hostas and Azalea for the shady areas. We also bought Jasmine to crawl on a steel trellis in front of the main entrance. None of the Roses and Azalea had bloomed. So these plants just added green and yellow colors.



Planting greens and yellows. 

After this, we still have some space in the front part of the flower bed that receives full sun; so we looked further for annuals that have bloomed to add more colors. For this purpose, we went to Home Depot because it has nice collection of plants.

We ended up with annuals and perennials of blooming Pansies, Daffodils, Candytufts, and Phloxes. They were so colorful, I couldn’t resist them. I added a clump of bud Lilies, hoping to give continuous color in the flower bed.

Result from a trip to Home Depot.



Planting colorful flowers

Our filled flower bed.

For the backyard, we moved the plants that we planted from seeds. They consisted of fruits, veggies, and herbs. Not all of the seeds grew, of course. Most of the tomatoes and peppers survived but not the onions. We had to buy new sprouts of onions to replace them. A few of spaghetti squash were also survived; while the herbs were still struggling. We also planted sunflowers on the side of the house and bamboos for privacy.

Indoor

Once we started planting, we couldn’t stop. Well, at least my husband couldn’t. He decided to have indoor plants as well. So far we only had an Aloe Vera from Dunn Nursery as a token. And after a trip to Home Depot, we ended up with a lot more plants.

Another trip to Home Depot.

We bought a Majesty Palm, Sago Palm, Pachira Money Tree, Fig, Ponytail Palm, and Anthurium. We put them in coordinated clay planters and placed them all over the living and family rooms based on their needs of lights.

Indoor plants give tropical feelings to the house.

Now, not only my house looked tropical but it also felt like a tropical area. Whenever I entered the house, I could feel the humidity from the plants. It would be interesting how it feels in the coming months after all the indoor plants get settled.